Escape
by ObiWanFan30
Summary: AU Miss Saigon fic. What if Chris had taken Kim with him back to the embassy instead of leaving her at their place? Kim tells her story to John's adopted Bui-Doi daughter of her escape during the Fall of Saigon and her love for Chris that kept her going.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: The characters Chris, John, Ellen, Kim, and Tam are the property of Boublil and Schoenberg. The only character that's mine is Haley.**

_**Prologue**_

_Manhattan, New York  
__Late spring, 1993_

Haley Wilson made her way to the nice, yet modest, brownstone. She considered it her home away from home when she and her parents came to New York for her father's work. She glanced around to make sure passerby weren't looking and then crouched down to look for the spare key she knew her Uncle Chris kept under the doormat. It didn't take long for her to get to it, but the door opened before she even had to use it.

Kimberly Scott looked down at the girl she considered to be her surrogate niece. Like her Tam, Haley was also a Bui-Doi child, but she really didn't look the part. In fact, she looked practically Caucasian with her brown hair and hazel eyes. John had found the girl as part of his work, but when he learned her biological father had been killed during the Fall of Saigon, he and his wife, Ellen, adopted her and raised her as their own. Kim smiled and held her hand out to help Haley to her feet.

Haley grinned. "How did you know it was me?" she asked with a chuckle.

Kim smirked. "Your father phoned here and let us know you were coming," she replied. "You just missed your uncle. He's meeting your father for a business lunch."

It didn't take long before Haley was sitting at her kitchen and Kim was serving up some left over take-out from a Vietnamese restaurant that she and Chris liked to frequent. Tam was on an overnight track meet for his school, so with Haley here visiting it wouldn't go to waste.

"Is your mom here this time?" Kim asked.

"Naw, she's been kinda sick off and on," Haley replied. "To be honest, Aunt Kim, I'm getting kinda worried about her. Dad's been on her to see her doctor for a while now, but you know how she is."

"Yes, I know," Kim agreed. "Thankfully, your uncle would never let me get away with such nonsense."

Haley laughed. It was common knowledge that retired Marine sergeant Christopher Scott was still very much in love with his Vietnamese wife and very protective of her. In fact, when she'd had a breast cancer scare two years before, Chris had made sure she'd gotten to their family doctor the moment the lump had been found. Thankfully, the tumor found in her breast had been benign, but the doctors had told Chris that had it been malignant, his insistence on Kim coming to see them when she had would've saved her life.

Haley smiled as she thought of the love and commitment her surrogate uncle and aunt shared for each other. She'd heard the stories about how Chris had fallen in love with Kim when he'd seen her in "Dreamland", a seedy club in Saigon.

"What are you thinking about?" Kim asked, startling the teenage girl back into the present.

"About how you and Uncle Chris fell in love back then," she replied. "What I don't get, however, was how he was able to get you out of there. I mean from what I remember from my history class last year was that things were so insane back then and that they weren't letting any more Vietnamese into the embassy."

Kim flashed a sad smile. "Yes, that's true," she agreed. "It's only because he insisted on taking me with him when he had to report back to the embassy. I only had the clothes on my back, my shrine, and my wedding dress in a small bag, but it didn't matter…"

* * *

TBC... Hope you like the intro and how I've woven Haley into Chris and Kim's lives.

* * *


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer from the prologue applies. The only characters that are mine are Haley, Summer, and Brooke (John and Ellen's biological daughter). I started writing this story after being inspired by the awesome performances of Simon Bowman and Lea Salonga. So here's the cast list of who I see in mind as I write:**

**Chris--Simon Bowman  
Kim--Lea Salonga  
John--Peter Polycarpou  
Ellen--Claire Moore  
Summer (OC, Army nurse)--Rose Byrne  
Haley (OC, John and Ellen's adopted Bui-Doi daughter)--Bethany Joy Galeotti  
Brooke (OC that will appear later, John and Ellen's biological daughter)--Sophia Bush**

**Okay, enjoy!**

_**Chapter 1**_

_United States Embassy, Saigon  
__April, 1975_

Kim Truong had packed her small bag with only her wedding dress, a few sets of clean underclothing, and her family shrine, and had come with Chris to the embassy.

"Are you sure they'll let me come with you?" the seventeen-year-old girl asked fearfully.

"Once I tell them that I wish to marry you before we leave, they'll have no choice but to let you come with me," he assured her. "We still have a chaplain on staff here and he'll marry us before we evacuate." He smiled and kissed her. "And if we don't have time here, he'll probably marry us once we're safely out of Saigon."

Kim nodded, hoping and praying with everything inside her that he was right. They had only made promises to each other. It was enough for them, but she knew it wasn't legal and binding, yet. She felt him squeeze her hand as they faced the ambassador together.

A few minutes later, the confrontation was over and Kim was hustled away from Chris and turned over to a nurse in the U.S. Army for a medical examination. Kim wasn't too terribly concerned as she hadn't been a bar girl for very long and Chris was the only man she'd ever been with. The nurse's name was Summer and she chattered amiably as she conducted the examination.

"Oh! I'm sorry," the nurse chuckled. "Here I am chattering on and on, and I'm not known as a chatterbox."

"It's okay," Kim assured her in her careful English. "I think I need a distraction."

Summer smiled. "You're lucky Sergeant Scott brought you when he did. The ambassador was going to issue the order to freeze like today."

Kim wrinkled her nose in confusion. "I don't understand."

"It would mean there would be no more Vietnamese allowed to leave." The other girl shook her head sadly. "Saigon is falling apart."

"Yes, I know." A tear broke free and rolled down Kim's cheek as she thought of the other bar girls she was leaving behind. Would Thuy have them all killed when he discovered she had gone with Chris? She shuddered at the thought.

"All done," Summer said, startling Kim out of her thoughts. She directed Kim to what looked like a lavatory. "You can take a quick shower in there. I'll get out some clothes for you. I have your bag here."

"My…wedding dress is in there," Kim told her. "I think it might be wrinkled. We didn't have much time to leave."

Summer nodded in understanding. "Say no more. I'll see what I can do with it."

Thirty minutes later, Kim was dressed in her traditional Vietnamese wedding gown and pant set and combing through her wet and slightly tangled hair. Summer then used a hair dryer and helped her fashion her long hair into a serviceable knot and then Kim carefully pinned the headpiece in place.

"You look beautiful," Summer breathed. "But wait!" She grabbed her own purse took out her make-up kit. Kim's coloring made it easy for Summer to apply a light layer of eye shadow, blush, and lipstick. A knock at the door startled both women.

"You ladies ready?" Estevez called out. "The chaplain's ready and things are going crazy out there. We have to get outta here soon, so if the sergeant and his gal wanna get married, we gotta do it now."

"Just a second, Estevez!" Summer called back. She then turned back to Kim. "Okay, I'm assuming you've got the something old, something new, right?"

Kim laughed. "Yes, my dress is new, and these earrings belonged to Gigi, and she said they were antiques."

Summer quickly took off her own bracelet and fastened it to Kim's thin wrist. "Okay, here's your something borrowed. What about something blue?"

Kim smiled and pulled a blue silk scarf from her pocket and fashioned it in a loose knot on her neck. "What is this all about?"

"Oh, it's just tradition for American weddings that the bride needs to have something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." Summer smiled sadly. "Even if you and Sergeant Scott are having a quickie wedding ceremony with the chaplain, I wanted to make sure some traditions were still adhered to. Now come on, Miss Truong. Let's get you married!"

* * *

The ceremony was short, but rich with feeling. Kim and Chris were oblivious to the chaos going on outside as they exchanged vows, and then rings that Summer and John had been gracious enough to let them have to bind the marriage.

Chris cupped her face, leaned down and kissed her and the bonds became final. Just then, a knock at the door startled everyone.

"The last two choppers have landed!" Private Mark Kellerman said.

Ambassador Graham Martin got up. "All right, let's go. Mrs. Scott, you have just enough time to change, and then we have to go."

Kim nodded as Summer handed her a t-shirt and pants, similar to the ones Kim had been wearing when she'd first arrived at the embassy. Neither woman spoke as Kim gave the bracelet back and quickly changed into the clean shirt and pants set that Summer had given her.

"Thank you for all your kindnesses," Kim said as the two women hugged goodbye. Summer would be going on the other chopper with John, Estevez, and a few other Marines while Kim and Chris would be flying with the ambassador and some other high ranking officers.

Suddenly, everything was chaos. Thankfully, Chris and Kim had clung to each other's hands otherwise they would've been separated. John had made sure Kim was safely buckled in beside Chris as the chopper took flight and then he hurried to his own chopper.

Kim had mixed feelings about everything. Yes, she was leaving Vietnam, her homeland, but it had become a war zone, and her family was dead. She was going to America, to a new life with a man who loved her. She shook her head to clear it, feeling the fatigue wash over her as the chopper rose higher in the sky. Feeling Chris's arm slide around her shoulders, she let him guide her head to his shoulder. Resting against him did it. She was out like a light.

* * *


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Kim had no idea how long she'd slept, but she stirred when she felt herself being carried off the chopper into a building. Inhaling her husband's familiar scent, she was tempted to go back to sleep, but then she heard voices around her.

"Poor girl, she's been through so much," a higher ranking officer was saying to Chris. "She's lucky to have you."

"No," she heard Chris say. "I'm lucky to have her."

"You're welcome to use one of the rooms upstairs," the officer was saying. "Maybe you should take your bride's cue and get some rest yourself."

She heard Chris laugh. "Yeah, I think I will. When will we be leaving for the States?"

"Not for a couple of days. Just have to make sure everything's in order for you and your new bride. Go on, Sergeant. Get some rest and enjoy some alone time with her. That's an order." She heard Chris's superior chuckle. "Goodness knows you've earned a break for a while. We'll send word when we're ready to leave."

Kim chuckled as the man walked away and Chris, well aware his bride was wide awake now, carried her up the stairs to a private room. She looked up at him, expecting him to put her down. Instead, he laughed and kissed her again. "No, Kim. We're going to do this properly."

She giggled. "Another one of those American wedding traditions?" she teased. "Summer already drilled me on the something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Why do you think I was wearing that scarf around my neck?" She reached over and opened the door as her husband's hands were full.

Chris laughed as he carried his bride over the threshold and kicked the door shut. He then carried her to the bed. Laying her down gently, he kissed her again. "I love you," he whispered, his lips mere inches from hers.

Tears stung Kim's eyes as she saw the love in the depths of Chris's eyes. "I love you too," she whispered back as she let herself be swept away. She wanted to go with Chris as far as their love would take them.

In the peaceful aftermath, Kim found herself snuggling closer to Chris and seemingly under a spell that words would only break. Chris gently caressed her face, kissing her again. She gave herself up to the love they shared. It kept the rest of the world at bay, if only for a little while.

* * *

Haley smiled as she listened to Kim reminisce. Hearing about how her uncle and aunt got out of Saigon with Kim carrying nothing except some clothes and her family shrine in a bag made her believe that with love, anything was possible.

"So, two days after arriving at the military base in Germany, you flew to America with Uncle Chris, right?" Haley asked.

"Yes. I was so nervous because Chris told me his parents were meeting us at the military base in Virginia." Kim laughed. "Turns out he'd had his lieutenant contact them to let them know about me, so they wouldn't be too terribly surprised when they saw their son with a young Vietnamese bride. But I didn't have to worry if they would like me…"

* * *

Kim was a bundle of nerves as she felt the military plane descending. In about thirty minutes, she would be meeting her future in-laws. Chris had told her a little bit about them. His father was a teacher at a college in New York, and very open minded about social issues from what Chris had said. His mother was the daughter of a military man herself so she knew what Chris had been in for when he went back to Vietnam.

The plane landed and the newlywed couple waited until the plane was empty to begin gathering their things together. While in Germany, Summer had taken Kim shopping and she now had in her possession two modest dresses, a couple of pairs of jeans, and two nice blouses.

"You ready?" Chris asked softly. Kim nodded and slipped her hand in his, feeling him bring it to his lips for a soft kiss as they exited the plane.

It didn't take long for Chris to find his parents and when Kim first saw his father, she almost got a chill. He was an older version of Chris and it was easy for her to figure where her husband had gotten his handsome looks, even though there were subtle features that Kim recognized as coming from his mother.

"So this must be the beautiful bride," Calvin Scott said jovially, looking Kim up and down. "Welcome to America, Kim."

"Thank you," she said with a shy smile.

"Oh you sweet thing," Emma Scott said, gently taking her new daughter-in-law's hands in her own. "Chris's lieutenant told us he was bringing home a bride from Saigon; he just forgot to mention how beautiful you were."

It didn't take long for Kim's paperwork to be processed. She had to wonder if maybe Ambassador Kelly had something to do with it, but she didn't say anything as she was given her green card and made to pose for a picture for her American passport that would be issued to her later.

"Welcome to the United States, Mrs. Scott," the official said. "You will be allowed to go with your husband. And congratulations."

"Thank you," she managed to squeak out and left with her new family.

* * *

Chris and Kim stayed with his parents for first couple weeks of their marriage. Then he found a small two bedroom apartment not far from where he was working for an investment firm in Manhattan.

Three months after her arrival in America, Kim had begun exhibiting peculiar symptoms. She would be sick in the mornings and she tired easily. When she almost passed out while making dinner, Chris had called his physician and made an appointment for her to meet with him.

The doctor asked her some questions, a couple which had made her blush, and then he did a quick examination and it didn't take long for them to determine what was going on.

"Kim, you're pregnant," he told her. "And it looks like the baby will be due sometime in January." After giving her some prenatal vitamins and some instructions on how to handle the nausea, he sent her home in Chris's care.

When she told Chris about the baby, he was ecstatic. He enlisted his father's help in restoring the old crib for the extra bedroom that would now become a nursery. He was also ready to help her when she became tired or stressed. Emma took her shopping for some maternity clothes once her own clothes became tight.

Amid all this, Chris and Kim also learned that John had fallen in love with a woman named Ellen Spencer and that they would be marrying in a few months. Kim liked her right away, especially since she and John were working together to help some of the illegitimate children in Vietnam and reuniting some with their American fathers.

* * *

Two months after John and Ellen's wedding, Kim was laying back and reading a book when all of a sudden she was seized by a sharp pain in her midsection. _I need to begin timing these pains_, she thought to herself. _This could be it_.

Emma was visiting at the time and she heard her daughter-in-law moaning in pain. She hurried to the living room where she could see that Kim was in labor. "Are you timing those pains?" she asked gently, smoothing back a thin black tendril of Kim's hair.

Kim nodded. "Every three minutes give or take." She winced as a particular hard contraction hit at that moment. "I never thought it would be this intense!"

"Sweetie, you have no idea," Emma chuckled as she helped the younger girl to her feet. "I could tell you horror stories of my labor with Chris, but I think I'll spare you that. Do you have a bag packed?"

"It's in the bedroom. I can get it." Kim made her way to the bedroom and grabbed the bag that Chris had helped her pack two days before. Just then, she felt water gushing down her legs. "Emma, I think my water just broke!"

The moment Emma heard the panic in her young daughter-in-law's voice, she was quick to take charge, gently but firmly herding Kim out the door and asking their neighbor to please call the investment firm and let Chris know that Kim was in labor and that she was taking her to the hospital.

Amid her pain, Kim smiled as Emma helped her into the car. _It will be okay,_ she thought. _Soon, I'll be holding our baby, a product of our love. All this pain and suffering will be more than worth it_.


	4. Chapter 3

**We're at the end of the road here, folks! But I will be working on a sequel where someone from Kim's past comes back to torment her and those who love her. And yes, John and Ellen's biological daughter, Brooke, will be a bigger part of that story. Enjoy this last chapter!**

_**Chapter 3**_

"Emma took me to the hospital," Kim told Haley. "And when Chris got there, Tam just came right out." She laughed. "Yeah, he was giving me pains off and on for over two hours. And then when his dad got there, he decided it was time to make his big entrance. It's kind of funny looking back on it now…"

"That's it Kim," the doctor said. "Just one more push and your baby will be here."

Kim let out a soft cry as she pushed one more time, and then relaxed as she felt something warm and wet slide from her body. A second later, a piercing cry filled the air, but to Kim and Chris it was the most beautiful sound they'd ever heard.

"It's a boy!" the doctor said jubilantly.

"A son," Chris breathed as the baby was wrapped and placed in Kim's arms. "Our son." He gently tilted Kim's face up to his and kissed her tenderly.

"Yes," she whispered, cuddling the baby close and looking down at him. "Hi baby…"

The infant boy quieted when he heard his mother's voice. Kim kissed his small forehead, and then tensed when she felt the nurse ease him from her arms.

"It's all right, Kim. We just need to get him cleaned up and examined, just to make sure everything's okay. But he looks like a healthy little boy." She smiled. "Plus, we need to get you cleaned up. You just relax and it won't be long before you're in your room with your baby."

Kim relaxed at the reassurances and it wasn't long before she was delivering the placenta and everything was put in order for her. In fact, she felt herself drifting off to sleep as she was placed on a gurney to be taken to her room, her husband by her side.

* * *

"What made you guys decide on naming him Tam?" Haley asked, bringing Kim back into the present. "It's just that I know I had a Vietnamese name when I was born, but Mom and Dad decided to give me an American name and use my original name as my middle name."

Kim smiled. "I remember that. I think it was because Chris wanted a name that was unique, like our son. And Tam was my brother's name." Her smile became sad. "He was killed when my village was burned."

"I'm so sorry." Haley shook her head. "They didn't mention all that when we studied the war in my history class last year."

"There are no words," Kim agreed. Then she brightened, not wanting that sad part of the past to mar this visit. "I remember when John and Ellen had made the decision to adopt you…"

* * *

Kim was in the hotel room, nursing four-month-old Tam. She chuckled at the suckling sounds the baby was making as he ate. "You're hungry, aren't you," she quipped. The baby ignored her and continued to nurse.

She and Chris were in Atlanta, Georgia, attending a conference at John's request. She instinctively knew it had to do with the work he was doing for the Bui-Doi children left behind because of the Vietnam War. While Chris had decided to go to the presentation John was giving at the convention center across town, Kim opted to stay at the hotel. A meeting like the one John was having was no place for a baby, even one as good tempered as Tam.

When Tam was finished eating, Kim gently hefted her son on her shoulder, burp rag in place, and began to rub his little back. It wasn't long before he emitted a mildly loud burp. Kim giggled at her son. "Excuse you, little man," she quipped. Tam cooed at her just as she heard the key turn in the lock. She looked up to see Chris, John, and Ellen, with Ellen holding a tiny bundle in her arms. Kim was surprised. She and Chris had only learned about Ellen's pregnancy when Tam was two months old, and she was just starting to show.

At her questioning look, Ellen began to explain, "John got a report from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok. This is Lien." She pulled back the pink blanket to reveal a sleeping baby who looked to be no more than a month old. "She was fathered by a guy in John and Chris's unit in Saigon, and he was killed after coming back from Vietnam. This little girl's mother was killed by the North Vietnamese Army and she was taken to Bangkok by the mother's friend in a brothel in Saigon. With some help from the Ambassador, John and I were granted custody of her and we want to adopt her."

"It's better than leaving her in a Bui-Doi camp," Kim said in agreement. She'd been to one of John's presentations while she was pregnant with Tam and it had been an eye opener. She hadn't realized how many of the children who were left behind in Vietnam suffered because of the circumstances they'd been born into. She shuddered to think of what would've become of her and her baby had Chris not insisted on bringing her with him when he returned to the embassy in Saigon.

* * *

"After permanent custody was granted, your mom and dad named you Haley Lien," Kim told Haley as she reminisced. "I remember how happy it made them that they were allowed to give you a good life here in America."

Haley smiled. She knew that a few months after her adoptive parents had started the process for her adoption, they had Brooke. But they had in no way treated the girls any differently. Haley was as much a part of the Wilson family as Brooke and even though the two girls didn't share the same blood, they were as close as two blood sisters could be.

"So why didn't Brooke come with you and your dad this time?" Kim asked.

"She had a track meet this weekend, and she wanted to stay close to Mom," Haley said. "But she asked me to tell you hi and that she misses you."

"I miss her too." Kim laughed. "Chris, Tam, and I are hoping to come down for a visit before the end of the school year. Maybe we'll be able to see Brooke in action."

Before Haley could reply, both women heard a key turning in the lock and then the door opened. They looked up to see Chris and John walking in and heading to the kitchen.

"Seems every time my work brings me to New York, I can always find my daughter here when I'm done," John chuckled as Haley got up and hugged him while Chris went over and kissed his wife.

"Anything good happen today?" she asked.

"A couple possible leads, but you know how delicate these situations can be," John replied. "All we can do is take a wait and see attitude."

Soon after John and Haley left, Kim and Chris settled back in their living room. "You know," she whispered coyly. "Haley's gone; Tam's on that overnight track meet. We have the place all to ourselves."

He smiled as he gathered Kim in his arms. "I like how you think," he whispered as he kissed her hungrily. He then stood up, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to their bedroom, kicking the door shut.

Hours later, Kim snuggled in her husband's embrace, feeling him tighten his arms around her in sleep. She was well on her way to sleep herself, but she found herself thinking about Haley and how the both of them had been lucky to be here and have good lives in America. Kim had been little more than a prostitute for one day when she met Chris, and Haley had been born to a Vietnamese prostitute who'd been with a G.I. in John and Chris's unit. She would've ended up in a Bui-Doi camp had it not been for John and Ellen's desire to adopt her and give her a good life, and Kim would've ended up killed by the Viet Cong had Chris not insisted on taking her with him to the embassy late in the night.

_Yes,_ she decided as she finally drifted off to sleep in her husband's arms. _We are very blessed._

**THE END**--sequel coming soon. )


End file.
